Winged Bravery
by who smiles
Summary: The short tale of a nerdy love life- or lack there of... in which Mei Ling kicks ass, rhinos make awful jokes, mops are seduced, and Crane is very, very, adorkable. -Crane/Mei Ling
1. Chapter 1

**What? Don't look so surprised! It was solely up to my energy-level to write this! Well, it was this or a seriously awful AU for Avatar about...well, you don't care about that. Hell, I don't care about that. Not now anyhow.**

**Right now, I care about this Crane-centric multi chapter that's probably featuring my best writing with one of my favorite characters in all his dorky glory. Apologies if I play up the dork too much...but it's necessary. I promise.**

**The great Fanfictionn gods have not yet said how many chapters this will be (though I'm putting my bets on 3). **

**Anyway, introducing Winged Bravery! (cheesy title I know. Sue me later)**

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><p>To anyone not accustomed to the gangly janitor of Lee Da Academy, seeing him trying rather hard to seduce a mop would send bad vibes. To those who were accustomed to it…well, the vibes were still received, but it also gave the opportunity for an epic teasing session.<p>

In fact, the boy feathered kid probably thought he was alone at the time. (Being alone was the _only _time making kissy faces and wriggling your eyebrows at a mop was acceptable.) He had no idea of the three rhinos hiding behind a corner and trying—or rather, _failing_—to keep their laughter contained.

"How you doin'?" the janitor said, forcing his voice to drop a few octaves. He did some kind of fancy twirl with the mop, only to stop and hold it in a nearly dipping motion. "Oh please, don't be so shy. You look great-" he stood upright and behind spinning quickly "In fact, you've never looked so-_o-D'OW_."

Before his final line could be delivered, the water fowl tripped over a nearby bucket and face-planted into the ground. Unable to help themselves, his soon-to-be tormentors burst into heart guffaws, leaning on each other and gripping their sides.

Poor, poor janitor-boy's face turned from grayish-blue to crimson in 0.3 seconds. He stumbled to a standing position, tripped over the spilled water from the bucket, and let out a muffled curse when the mop landed solidly on his head. The rhinos laughed harder, bellowing so uproariously he honestly thought they'd end up exploding.

"You," the biggest of them managed, "are the-_the _funniest thing to ha-happen to this school!"

The friend to his left joined in, "It's a wonder they haven't kicked you out for causing a riot yet!"

"Or!" the last of the tacked on, "Or, from breaking things faster then you can fix 'em!"

And, as if they were the funniest people in the world, the rhinos proceeded to laugh until tears flowed freely down their cheeks.

Janitor-boy slumped on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling. He never figured out just how he managed to get into these situations. Maybe the whole mop-seducing practices should be held when he was absolutely _positive _he was alone.

"Heh heh, real funny guys," he said tiredly. With a small push of his wings, he righted himself. "You're a riot."

With a downcast expression, he resumed mopping the floors, simultaneously wishing his face would return to its normal.

The rhinos continued laughing, cracking more awful jokes and empty insults as they staggered about each other. Only when a shrill cry of, "Hey; you lot! _Get your asses to the training hall!_", echoed off the hallways' walls did they sober up and trot away.

The klutzy avian didn't watch their retreat; still desperately trying to play off the situation in a completely cool manner. When the same voice came again, this time directed at him and a lot less irritated, his head did snap up and his face paled.

"Sorry about that," the voice's owner said, strolling into the room with her arms crossed. Her voice took on a bit more annoyance as she added, "That's the Wang brothers. They aren't exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer."

Despite the fact that his legs were turning into jello and his heart was racing, Crane calmed himself enough to say, "I could tell." The reply didn't feel quite adequate to her words, so he quickly threw in, "They weren't even funny. Sometimes laughing along is easy, but their jokes…let's just say, I wasn't pitying myself."

She grinned at him, letting out a quiet laugh and—there went the rest of his composure. "I have to train," she said, with a slight shake of her head. "I…I'll see you around, Crane." With one last fleeting smile, she turned and strutted out the door again, and he wanted to either gauge his eyes out of drool.

"Bye!" he squeaked instead, waving one wing with far too much enthusiasm, and was ultimately glad she couldn't see him.

Once he was sure she was long gone, the impatient smile finally broke out on his face and he found himself twirling around with the mop again, this time chanting 'Mei Ling wants to see _me_ around!' and '_Wow_, she sure showed those guys!'.

After a few minutes of doing this, he realized how lovelorn he sounded and stopped abruptly, glancing around to make sure he wasn't being watched this time. But even though he pressed his lips together tightly, he managed to smile anyhow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright. This is a biggie chapter. The Fanfiction Fates still haven't decided how long this will be, though it's started to look like a really long third or an average length third and fourth. So, I gave it a shot and tried not to get too distracted by Son of Neptune (asdkahkfhfjhsjh Rick Riortroll!) so I could write this.**

**This is valuable reading time. You're just lucky I love Crane so much 3**

**Also, I'm aware this deviates from canon. Or, eh, Secrets of the Furious Five, which is kind of canon and kind of not…but, I had to sort of kind of bend something events so a) the story wouldn't be boring and b) it would make more sense for the ending/title.**

**Please tell me of any grammar mistakes. It's harder to catch them when the chapter is long...Also, if any 'h's are missing, it's because the 'h' key on my laptop is really inconsistent.**

**(If anyone has ever tried writing a Crane-centric fic, they probably understand that 30% of his personality is what you got from the movies, and 70% is randomness you had to make up because the movies were mainly focused on Po, and a 100% hard as-)**

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><p>Crane was fond of dreams.<p>

It was something that had fascinated him since he was a fledgling. Always flittering about to ask Mom if she dreamed about kung fu like he did; asking Brother and Sister if they ever got sucker-punched in the dead of night. It was just one more thing that kept him isolated from the rest of his family—not that he minded. He felt special, being the only one to dream so vividly. Possibly, his wild imagination was what fueled his want to go to Lee Da, but he had never really thought about it.

The rest of the day passed by so quickly and pleasantly, he would've been surprised if he was awake.

Around sundown, when the students were eating dinner, a fist-fight broke out—ending with a rhino with a broken nose, a leopard with a glassy look in eyes, and a decent sized pool of what, blood? Sweat?, stinking up the mess hall.

Normally, he would've cursed his superiors for making him clean it up. But after noticing that she, _she _she, was sitting but a few feet away from the spill, he only cursed them silently.

Armed with a mop, a bucket, and plenty of soap, Crane puffed out his chest and stalked over to the sight of the mess. The table next to it was occupied by the only girls at the institute—sixteen in total. She had seen up, perked up slightly, and waved. The girl to her right (what was she; a squirrel? She had an awfully bushy tail) nudged Mei Ling with an elbow and waggled her eyebrows at her, earning a napkin thrown at her and giggles all around.

"Hey," the bushy-tailed girl said sweetly, waving Crane over. He obliged, nearly tripping over the bucket in his haste to approach the table. "You're the janitor, right?" she asked, once he was standing behind her, sporting a dopey grin.

"Yeah," he nodded. "That explains the mop, huh?"

She laughed, and her eyes twinkled. Mei Ling looked slightly horrified, but mostly amused. "I'm Ai," the girl said, and jabbed a thumb in Mei Ling's direction. "And this is my best girl, Mei." Her voice lowered suddenly, causing many of the other girls to lean in. "Now, be honest with me here, do you think she's hot—"

"Ai!" Mei Ling suddenly yelped, hopping to her feet and pointing (and also saving Crane from death by humiliation). "There's a bug the size of my plate on your shoulder!"

Crane staggered backwards as the girl leaped out of her seat and – screaming the whole time – stole his mop and expertly began to beat her shoulder. It was highly entertaining, though he tried not to laugh. He stole a glance at Mei Ling—who was smirking and shaking her head. When Ai finally calmed down enough to come to her senses and glare, the feline wagged a finger at her. "I don't think you got it…"

The table of girls were nearly falling out of their seats—hooting and howling so hard tears streamed down their faces. Ai turned pinkish color but grinned and punched Mei Ling affectionately. "You're a piece of work, Mei," she laughed. Looking rather embarrassed, she shoved the mop at Crane. "And, uhm, I think this is yours."

He did his best to keep a straight face as he took it back.

Once settled in her seat again, Ai must've decided trying to bother Mei Ling/ interrogate Crane wasn't a good idea.

He cleared his throat. "That was interesting," he said at last, and to his excitement Mei Ling laughed.

"Sorry about Ai," she said. "She's great, don't get me wrong, but it takes a bit of warming up to get used to her. It also helps to know she's afraid of bugs."

They both smiled. Crane got ready to make idle conversation (not his strong point, admittedly, but Mei Ling never seemed to mind) when a chopstick hit him in the back of the head.

"Yo, Feathers!" one of his superiors called, "Quit yer flirtin' an' clean the floors!"

Crane was fairly sure his face changed color multiple times before staying on _my-Mother-just-pulled-out-the-baby-pictures _red, judging from the incredulous look Mei Ling was giving him. He mumbled a hasty goodbye, snatching up his mop and trying to focus on the spill.

She frowned and let her gaze stick on him for a moment, but a grinning fox pulled her back into the conversation.

Now reciting a quiet mantra in his head, _I will not stare at Mei Ling; I will _not _stare at Mei Ling_, Crane scrubbed at the floor. If he had ears, he was sure they'd be tinged ruby red—kind of like Wei's did when he got mad. If he hand fingers, he was sure they'd be clammy and sticky and he wouldn't have been able to grip the mop. If he didn't have such great hearing, despite not having ears (Mother had never explained how that worked) he wouldn't have started eavesdropping- erm, _overhearing _the girls' conversation.

"I think Crane's adorable," said a giggling voice. "He reminds of my little brother."

"I get what you mean. He's got that…cutesy way of doing everything- even if he is a doomed klutz."

Crane felt his heart swell with the compliments.

"You guys are all thinking of him as a brother," Ai said. "_I _think he'd be great arm candy for our Mei."

And the burning red made a reappearance on his face.

"You guys," this time it was Mei Ling's voice. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop trying to find me a boyfriend? Last week it was Xuan She, the week before that it was Sheng Li Jiang, and the week before _that _it was—"

"Okay, okay, we get your point, Mei. We'll stop trying to find you a man."

"Thank the gods!"

Crane lost interest as the conversation spiraled into the latest fads in the village—wearing your sash tied _above_ the waist; keep a flower (or a papaya; Ai wasn't doing a very good job of forming the shape with her paws) tucked in the hem of your tunic when it rained for good luck. Boring things that he didn't care about.

Until…

"Isn't the Academy accepting students again?"

"Oh, yeah! Tryouts are in two days time; rumor has it the newbies have to run an obstacle course."

A collective groan.

"They get it easy! I had to spar with one of the teachers when I got accepted!"

"I had to body slam the Headmaster!"

"I remember that year! Wasn't that the same tryouts when some kid nearly lost his eyeball?"

"That happened last year too. If we're lucky it might happen again! Huan - you know, he works with the equipment? – said they've got the machines with spikes and they spin and—"

"Shh! He wasn't supposed to tell us about that!"

"Don't give me that! You're the one who went 'damsel' on him with your big eyes and whatnot. He was practically drooling over you."

Crane was afraid a fight would break out, when Mei Ling whistled loudly. "Stop it," she commanded, "you're acting like the Wang brothers!"

Somehow, that was one of the greatest insults she could've dealt, and both girls clammed up instantly.

"Better," Mei Ling smiled. "Honestly, sometimes it's like taking care of children around here."

"Loosen up Mei, you're the youngest of all us! You're, what, eighteen and acting like a mom already!"

"Maybe she's preparing for her wedding with—"

She was cut off by a banana being suddenly forced down her throat and a satisfied Mei Ling looking on with interest. "Wow," she commented as Ai choked, "I wasn't expecting that to work so well."

"I _cough _hate you _cough _just so you kn-_cough_-ow," Ai spluttered.

Mei Ling grinned at her and Crane wished he could give her a round of applause. But he had a slight problem—no paws—and decided that smiling at her would suffice.

**xxxXXXxxx**

Later, as midnight neared, Crane prepared for his finals rounds. He stepped into the courtyard and surveyed the levels of dorms. He looked over his shoulder, and deemed the night safe enough to practice.

He imagined an announcer raising a staff. _On your mark!_

He clutched his mop.

_Get set!_

He wiggled his rump—something the students always did before a match. He wasn't sure what it accomplished, but he liked to think it made him look cool.

_Go!_

Crane leaped to the air, much more gracefully then yesterday night, which he was proud of. He landed lightly on the second level balcony. He raised his head and practiced a smirk, which felt foreign on his face, and sped forward much faster then he'd ever managed.

With a strong pump of his wings, he righted a few fallen barrels, and swooped to retrieve some strewn about clothes which he hung carefully on the clothes line. He mopped the area quickly and thoroughly until it literally sparkled.

The announcer in his head said, _Incredible! Huang Jien cleans the second floor with a record time of 55 seconds!_

He paused to let himself bow to an imaginary audience before jumping off the balcony and sweeping into the night sky.

One minute and forty-five seconds later, Crane was panting and marveling at the tidiness of every balcony. He wiped a drop of sweat off his brow and grinned.

_That's Huang Jien everybody, _the announcer beamed. _Isn't he amazing?_

"Why thank you," Crane said modestly just as a voice behind him exclaimed, "Wow, you're good at that!"

It didn't sound like the announcer- much too feminine- and he tilted his head to the side. "Uhm…what?"

"I said," the voice reiterated, "you're good at that!"

Crane whipped around, heart hammering, and instinctively held up his mop as if he was going to use it to defend himself. In his haste, he kicked over a bucket and a pile of sponges, and was torn between cleaning that up and getting his butt kicked by whatever stranger was—wait…feminine voice?

He peered around the mop head. "Mei…" the familiar face smiled at him, though her eyes looked rather confused. He dropped his mop, kicked it behind him, and finished, "….Ling."

"In the flesh," she replied, still looking a bit quizzical. "I didn't mean to scare you—"

Crane was tempted to claim that he hadn't been scared at all, but decided that would tear what was left of his dignity to shreds. Instead, he blushed. Brightly.

"—but I heard something and when I look out the window of my room, all I saw was this blur!" Her eyes brightened. "And I was like, _What? _Then you landed and I saw a mop and I knew it was you- and, wow, whoever taught how to fly like that must've been a master. Why didn't you tell me you could do that?"

Her question was lost on him for a moment as he tried to make sense of her ramblings (and tried to ignore that fact that she looked just as beautiful in the middle of the night as she did during the day—which couldn't be said for some girls). After a few moments, he shook his head violently and shut his jaw. "I'm not," he explained, "trained. I, er, well kind of practice flying, I guess, when I'm cleaning. It, uh, makes the time go by faster."

She looked completely taken back and made a gasping sound that made his throat tighten. "You're not joking?" she asked, and he shook his head. "That's amazing! If the Headmaster knew you could fly like that, he would _take _that mop away from you and put you in his best class!"

He blushed and shook his head. "No, that's craziness…talking. I don't think so…it's just flying…"

"Don't be so modest Crane," she said, "you're _amazing._" Mei Ling paused and snapped her fingers, a grin taking over her face. "I think the Academy is taking in students again. One of the girls said tryouts are in two days."

Luckily, Crane still had common sense, and decided that telling her he eavesdropped on her conversation in the mess hall wasn't exactly charming. "Really?" he said instead, and tried to look surprised.

Maybe he was a better actor then he thought, because she nodded and didn't seem to think he looked strange. "Mhm. Maybe you could convince the Headmaster to let you try out!"

"Oh, eh, I don't really think that would be a good idea…" he mumbled. "I mean, I'd love to be a student here and all," he didn't state the reasons _why _"but…my family needs the money for other things…" he chortled half-heartedly and gestured at himself. "Plus, I'm not really built for kung fu."

"There's always scholarships," Mei Ling said. "And don't worry about how strong you are, Crane, kung fu is more then that."

Crane was only vaguely aware that he replied. His mind couldn't get over the fact that this was _Mei Ling _talking candidly with _him _and telling to him to _tryout _and-

"I…I'll think about it," he promised.

She smiled at him; moonlight glinted in her eyes. "Good."

The next words out of his mouth made him want to bite his own tongue off- and the only reason he didn't was because he had no teeth. "And, er, my name's Huang Jien."

His face made like driftwood and _burned _as she raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Huang Jien," he repeated. "Everyone just calls me Crane…but I'd, er, like you to call me Jien." Then he contorted his face and groaned inwardly.

Mei Ling smiled again, and his knees felt week. "Sounds like a privilege," she teased. Her face became a little more serious when she nodded, "I'm honored." She paused, grinned, and nudged with her shoulder. "_Jien."_

Upon hearing his name come out of _her _mouth, Crane's eyes widened and he was terrified his knees would actually give out. He did his best to remain calm. "It's weird," he commented quietly, "having someone other then my mother call me that. I haven't heard my real name since…" he trailed off; he couldn't even remember how long it had been since he'd seen his own mother!

Mei Ling's features saddened. "You haven't seen your family for that long?"

He nodded slowly, looking perplexed. "I…I guess not…"

She was silent, lost in thought. Crane did his very best to keep his eyes off her, and was so focused on his task he nearly yelped when she grabbed his wing and pulled him to the ground, where she crossed her legs and looked at him expectantly. "Tell me about your family," she prompted, eyes bright.

"I…er…" he stuttered uncomfortably for a few moments. She kept looking at him, grinning and generally being so attractive it would feel like a stake in the heart to say no. Finally, he started, "Father left before I was born—which is custom for my people, even though it sounds really barbaric and all—and I grew up with just my mother, my brother Xiongdi, and my sister Meimei. They were…" he paused to look for the right words. "Different from me. Or I was different from them, I'm not really sure. We got along though"- well _that _was a lie. Xiongdi tried tossing him out of the nest on multiple occasions, and Meimei insisted he was adopted. "-and tried to make life easy for our mom."

His conscience let up then. It was true that he and his siblings often came to a truce, just to bring a smile to Mother's face. "I…dreamed, when I was a kid. I had a huge imagination," he spread his wings for emphasis. "It threw my family off. I think my uncle used to call me Joseph the Dreamer-"

Mei Ling giggled quietly. Crane momentarily forgot all motor functions.

"-and now, I have to agree with him. My ideas were blown way out of proportion. I…" he sighed, "I always wanted to go to the Lee Da Academy. It was my dream for _years. _But, well, it never occurred to me I wouldn't be a student."

Her paw shot out and landed gently on his shoulder. "This just proves why you should try out," she said with a kind smile.

And, for a single second, he truly believed her.

It occurred to him that having his jaw hang loose and his eyes bug out at her did _not _look even _remotely _charming, so he hastily changed the subject, "It's, erm, late. I don't want the Headmaster getting mad at me for keeping his star student out so late." He chuckled nervously, and was too anxious to realize his wording made it sound like they were on a date.

Which they weren't, for the record. This was chance meeting. At night. In the moonlight. Which wasn't romantic in the slightest.

"Oh," Mei Ling blinked. She looked down at her paw, still resting on his shoulder, and jerked away quickly. His shoulder felt cold—missing the heat from her paw. "Yeah, it is."

He stood and offered her a wing, which she accepted. After pulling herself up, she dusted off her clothes and gave him a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow," he choked out, completely mesmerized by the way her eyes just _glowed. _

"Good night, Cr—_Jien_," she quickly corrected herself. He tried (honestly!) not to watch her back as she walked away, but…he was a nineteen year old _guy—_it couldn't be helped!

"And I'm ending those thoughts before they get any further," he mumbled, pressing a wing to his forehead and thanking the gods no one was around to see him blush furiously.

**xxxXXXxxx**

After finishing his evening rounds, Crane returned to his small quarters—exhausted from the mopping and sweeping and dusting and polishing and _dear gods _he hated cleaning. The question, "why?" always haunted him at night. Why couldn't he be a student? Why were his legs so stocky? Why couldn't he sweep Mei Ling off her feet?

As that thought came to mind, he glanced briefly at his broom. Then he groaned and tried to repress the memory of such an awful pun.

Crane dreamed of possibilities that night.

Though the idea sounded vague, there was really no other way to describe it. He dreamed he was teaching hundreds of birds to fly with grace and power. He dreamed that the Headmaster snapped his mop over his knee and slapped Crane on the back like they were old pals.

The most memorable one was the scene that took place at nightfall, resembling his earlier encounter closely. Other, erm, aspects of it occurred, and he was ultimately glad intruders couldn't step in on his dreams.

Though…. He _did_ want to thank the gods for allowing him to dream so lucidly.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back, chickadees! Note: I'm currently grounded (how am I on right now? I have my ways) and updates for this story, Drabble Edition, and the Nobody will be cut short until at least December! On the bright side, when I get back I'll finish off those stories so I can give myself room...for _three __more!_**

**__The first story is called *classified information* about *classified information*. The second is _Trust Me Not_ and all I can tell you is there are going to be new appearances and some reappearances. The third is _I Beg To Differ _and that one is going to be FUN.**

**I don't own KFP, but I do own a cutesy panda plushy!**

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><p>Yang-Yang did not like tea.<p>

She said that at least a billion times, yet the academy _kept on making it. _She refused to drink it. You could lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink. Or, more accurately for her case, you can lead a fox to tea and pray she doesn't kick your ass for making her some hot-leaf juice instead of something tasty.

"Grow up, Yang-Yang," Ai snapped as she downed her own cup. "Quit being such a baby and drink your tea."

So she tried, honestly. She brought the cup up to her lips, tilted it…

…and began to hack violently.

"No!" the fox shoved her teacup away. "I will not drink this…_abomination_ to my taste buds! It's gross and nasty and—whoa, Ai, are you okay?"

In the middle of Yang-Yang's rant, the raccoon dog turned a sickly pale color. Her cup of tea slipped from her fingers, and an eerie smile grew on her face. "_Damn!_" she exclaimed. "What's _in _that tea?"

Then she collapsed.

Yang-Yang leaped to catch her friend before she could knock her head against the table. She was alive, thank the gods, though her heartbeat was wild. She was sweating in torrents.

The fox eased the other girl to the ground gently, using her set cushion as a pillow. She trotted deeper into the girls' quarters. "Mei Ling, I think the tea killed Yang-Yang!"

She didn't receive and answer, and went to investigate. Only to trip over three more slumbering figures of her classmates, teacups laying nearby.

"_Holy_—Mei get out here! I think it's the end of the world!"

She scrambled to her feet and ran to the mountain cat's room. The door was wide open, and inside…

The four occupants of the small room froze and turned to the stunned girl in the doorway. "Am I, um, interrupting something?"

Mei Ling, trapped underneath a cloaked figure, deadpanned, "Shut up and help me, Yang-Yang." She grunted and placed her heels in the armpit's of her attacker and easily threw them off her.

Yang-Yang blinked. Her stationary state didn't last long—a masked man with a sack came charging toward her. Her eyes narrowed; _this _was why she went to the academy.

She attacked.

Crane woke up with a girl in his lap.

Okay, that was a _bit _of an exaggeration, but not quite. There was a girl sitting next to him, leaning over her face while trying to reach something on his other side. He blinked in complete bewilderment, then made a gurgling noise that alerted her.

She turned out to be a fox (a literal fox, jerks)—one of the girl's that had sat with Mei Ling in the mess hall. She had pretty brown eyes and pointy brown ears and was giving him a perplexed look that probably meant she wanted him to get away.

"Sorry!" she said and hastily jumped away from him. "You're, eh, Crane right?"

Crane nodded. Honestly, there wasn't much else he could do.

"Good, good." The fox folded her paws in her lap. "I'm Yang-Yang. A friend of Mei Ling's…and there's kind of a funny story you should hear about."

Crane cocked his head to the side. "What kind of story?"

"The kind that tells about how a school is supremely screwed unless you can help," she replied flatly.

"Wh-what?"

"Just listen." Yang-Yang took a deep breath. "Okay, so, this morning our tea was delivered to our quarters just like usual, and everyone took a cup and started sipping it, because what else do you do with tea?" She blinked slowly. "I didn't drink much of mine, since I hate the taste and all, but Ai totally chugged hers. Then, a couple minutes after she finished, she just…conked out." The fox trailed off, shook her head, and tried to focus. "So I got kind of freaked out and tried to get help, then it turns out all the other girls were passed out too, so I got really freaked out, and then Mei Ling was fighting these dudes in her bedroom—"

The janitor's heart hammered. Mei Ling was attacked in her own bedroom?

"—and they were these ninjas, like, I kid you not. And they tried to shove me in a sack but I gave 'em the ole one-two, Mei Ling helped of course, and we had to run out of the quarters." Yang-Yang rubbed her neck sheepishly. "Turns out that was a bad idea. A lot more of the masked dudes were swarming the place—and it turns out everyone's conked out too! Mei Ling told me to find you…and she'd handle the dopes. So here I am!" Yang-Yang held up her paws happily.

Crane jumped to his feet, fell, and jumped again. "Why are we still here? Ohmygoshohmygosh she could be dead or something!"

"Oh, no," Yang-Yang yawned widely. "She's not dead. They wouldn't kill her."

"Who?" Crane whirled on her. "Who wouldn't kill her?"

But the stocky-legged teenager was out of luck. Yang-Yang had collapsed—limbs in every direction, snoring peacefully. Which meant that Crane had to find Mei Ling alone.

Since he was running low on weapons (read: he had none) he took his mop and prayed it would finally do him good one day—that day being _today. _

On long, thin legs, Crane stalked out of his dorm. He was on high alert, gripping the mop tight enough to make the tips of his wings tingle. He figured finding Mei Ling would be easy—she was the only one upright. Save for a bunch of masked dudes…but Crane was fairly sure he could avoid them.

Well, he was sure five minutes ago, before he was shoved in a sack up to his neck and thrown over someone's shoulders like potatoes.

"I got me one!"

Crane's first reaction was to imitate a wet noodle—going positively limp. His heart felt like it was about to hammer right out of his chest. He breathed slowly, trying to come up with an idea to free himself.

_Think Jien. Think, think, think. _

Crane wound his foot back.

"Blimey, what're you doing—"

Then snapped it forward, getting his captor square in the gut. He doubled over and dropped Crane, who then wriggling out of the sack, snatched up his broom, and ran away as fast as he could. _Things to avoid: getting thrown in potato sacks._

Crane was so focused on _getting the hell away from there _that he didn't even notice there was a fist in front of his face until he collided into it. The avian fell over promptly, clutching his beak and rolling in agony.

"Oh, _oh_, it's just you!" The owner of the fist exclaimed as they grabbed his ankle and dragged him into a nearby classroom. She shut the door quietly and locked it.

"Please kill me quickly," Crane pleaded, as Mei Ling gathered him up in her arms. He was thrown off (_second _time he thought she was some else) but recovered and hugged her back tentatively.

"I'm so glad Yang-Yang found you!" the mountain cat said into his shoulder, holding onto him with a ferocious strength. "She took so long…I was starting to think they captured both of you!"

Crane took one look at her and decided she wasn't ready to hear that he had been moments away from captivity. Instead he said he focused on trying to keep his heart rate down. "Well, here I am…totally un-captured…"

Mei Ling pulled away. "Where's Yang-Yang?"

"She passed out in my quarters," Crane replied shakily. Mei Ling frowned, prompting him to ask, "Mei Ling, what's going on?"

The mountain cat glanced at him wearily. "I don't really have time to explain," she admitted, "but long story short, we're being attacked by the Feng Fu Academy. And they're whooping us." She tried to quell his horror by adding, "But, there's still you and me. Between the two of us there's enough skill to take them out."

Did she just…call him skilled?

Crane's knees went weak.

"Uh," he wobbled under her curious gaze, "_uh _there's this…teeny tiny…actually _ridiculously _big flaw in your reasoning."

"And what's that?"

Crane shuffled sheepishly. "I'm not skilled." A bit more forcefully, he added, "_at all_."

Mei Ling waved his words away with her paw. "Jien, please, I know the modest act is your thing and all but you seriously need to drop it. Confident is much more attractive."

An awkward silence fell like a blanket as Crane stared at her and Mei Ling stared at nothing.

His voice finally worked, albeit squeaking in every place possible. "D-did you j-just –"

She quickly threw her paw over his mouth and shoved to the nearest wall. Voice barely a whisper, she leaned close, "Someone's outside," and he could _feel _her breath on his neck. Instantly he felt warm and slightly dizzy, which he tried to cover up by swallowing and looking anywhere but her face.

Her _pretty _face that was literally centimeters from his face…

It was good thing her paw was still keeping his lips shut; if they hadn't, the second the door swung open would've weaseled out a very high-pitched and not at all attractive scream from him. A rhino that was at _least _two meters taller then him blinked at the two. He slung his club over his shoulder, blushing. "Is…is this a bad time?"

Mei Ling jumped away from Crane, shaking her head quickly and her paws even quicker. "Oh, eh, _no_. It's not what it looks like," she insisted, "We were doing _nothing_." Crane wasn't entirely positive…but he thought there was a slight pinkish coloring in her cheeks. He nodded his agreement with her, vigorously.

"Oh." The Rhino looked skeptical, but shrugged anyway. "Alright then." He gripped his club and swung it full force at Mei Ling's head.

Then he grunted in pain and fell to the ground. Panting, Crane rolled off of him, looking at his own wings as if he'd been possessed. The rhino made a weak whimper ("Did he just ask for his Momma?" Mei Ling questioned) and didn't rise.

"Um," Crane blinked at the fallen opponent. "Did…_I _do that?"

Looking nearly as astonished as he, Mei Ling nodded. "Yes. I think you just save me from a nasty head wound as well." A small smile lit up her face. "I _knew _choosing you would be a good idea!"

Crane wasn't sure whether to whimper or faint, so he did neither. Mei Ling snatched his broom in one hand and his wing in the other. "Well, we've got to keep moving. Hopefully Momma's Boy didn't have any backup with…him…"

The mountain cat trailed off as her steps slowed. Her eyebrows knitted together and she shoved the broom into Crane's arms. "_Oh _for the _love of_…"

Before them stood three-four-_five _rhinos, resembling the unconscious one in clothing. They all wore brown vests over tan pants, black belts, and a red insignia on their stomachs, Crane assumed it was Feng Fu's symbol. Three of them held hammers, while the other two were weaponless.

Vaguely, Crane heard himself curse.

"Oi!" said the burliest of the rhinos. His accent was outrageously foreign. "That's no way to speak near a lassie!"

…did he just get scolded…by a villain?

"He doesn't need a lesson in manners, thank you kindly," Mei Ling snapped. She raised her fists and assumed a fighting stance. "Now, are you going to let us keep moving, or make us wipe the floor with your faces?"

Why did she keep saying 'us'? There was no 'us'! It was Mei Ling, aka _badass_ and her tag-along janitor aka _weak. _

The rhino, Crane assumed he was captain of his squad, pondered the question. "Oi, lassie, yer as rude as yer boyfriend."

Crane reminded himself to be embarrassed about that later. Mei Ling ignored the crack. "Answer the question."

"Well, the lads and I won't be getting our arses whooped by a little lady and her skinny boy toy. You'll be the mops," the rhino said conversationally. "And lookit! The boy's already a step ahead!" he gestured at the mop in Crane's possession.

Mei Ling glanced at him. It wasn't a _you stay back, I'll fight _glance; it was a conspiratorial _we attack on three _glance.

Crane gulped and nodded his consent. _One…_

Mei Ling mouthed, "Two."

"Three!" they both cried, and jumped.

Crane jumped as high as he could and let gravity go from there; luckily (or unluckily) he landed on scarred rhino's head. They both stared at each other, then Crane waved and the rhino roared. He swung his club as hard as he could at the bird…

…and fell over, out cold, when he whacked himself on the noggin.

Crane stepped carefully over his limp body, daring to inspect the injury ("You might want to ice that, Big Guy.") and ran head first into another rhino's chest.

"Heh heh," he said into the bigger man's chest armor, "Lovely day for a fight, no?"

The rhino laughed and plucked him into the air. "I swear," he mumbled as he looked Crane up and down, "they let _anyone _into Lee Da now."

Crane found that offensive, and painfully far from the truth. "Ha. That was a joke right? It was so funny I nearly forgot to laugh."

He swung lamely at the rhino, who tightened his grip on Crane's pants and laughed. The avian looked to his partner in hopes she would see his predicament.

His jaw just about fell to the ground.

Mei Ling was a blur among the rhinos; she'd run up one's arm, drop-kick him into his buddy and use his own weapon against them. Another would swing at her and—get this—she actually _caught _their club in her two paws and _broke _it over her knee like a twig. She tossed the splinters in the rhino's face and followed them with rapid-fire kicks. The rhinos were terrified, and Crane decided he was in love.

_Madly _in love.

"Some girl you got there…" the rhino holding Crane up mused. The janitor caught himself nodding, then blanched.

"She's not my girlfriend," he said frantically.

The rhino made a sound that very obviously meant he didn't believe a word of what Crane said, and threw him to the side. Crane bounce a couple times, hitting his head once, and sprawled on the ground.

His broom was meters away and Mei Ling was preoccupied at the moment…Crane knew right there and then that he was going to die.

Despite what people always said…his life didn't flash before his eyes. Rather, his vision blurred out things that weren't important anymore…and all he could see was her. Mei Ling at her best, roundhouse kicking a dude into oblivion.

He was going to die a sap.

Instead of feeling…well, whatever death felt like, he only felt a nudge on his side. "Crap, did I kill you? Dude get up…"

He turned and saw the rhino…relieved? "Um…aren't you supposed to kill me or something?"

"What?" The rhino looked appalled. "I'd get my hide tanned if I did that!"

"What?" Crane replied honestly.

Before there was a chance for an answer, the rhino's face contorted comically. He fell on his face, and in his spot Mei Ling flipped back on the ground. She rushed towards Crane and helped him up. "Jien? Jien are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?"

Crane, utterly disoriented, shook his head slowly. "No…I'm fine. I hit my head when I fell, but it's not too bad." He blinked her at concerned face and felt is own heat up. "You…were on fire there," he commented.

"Oh," she sounded surprised but pleased. "Thanks…I wasn't even using the right form," she admitted sheepishly.

Cracking a smile, Crane waved away her words with his wing. "You know, the whole modest act isn't your thing. You should stick to confident."

She turned to him and this time he was _positive _she was blushing. Good sign, right? _Right? _"Ha ha, Jien," she joked, socking him in the shoulder, "very funny."

They stayed there for a bit longer, until Mei Ling realized she was still halfway wrapped around him and let go promptly. "We should," she sounded flushed, "we should keep moving."

"Where exactly are we headed?"

"To the Headmaster's quarters. We can end this if we find him." As an afterthought, she added, "Well, we'd have to be in one piece to win, but I think we can manage that."

Crane frowned. "What do you mean win?" he asked.

"It's all a game," Mei Ling explained while pulling him in a run (after he picked up his broom of course). "Lee Da and Feng Fu have been rivals for many years. Every year we hold the Golden Suns Competition for that huge trophy in the Headmaster's office—"

Crane remembered it vividly. The damn thing took over a day to polish.

"—and a while back it became tradition to send either schools' best group of fighters and try to steal it from the opposing school. We won the trophy this summer, but apparently Feng Fu ignored Rule Three—'Schools are not allowed to steal the trophy within the week before new students are accepted'." Mei Ling sighed heavily and turned right, towards the Headmaster's office. "So now it's like, three days away from tryouts and we've got a giant Feng Fu-caused mess to clean up—including our own classmates." She didn't correct herself. "Since it seems that Feng Fu spiked the tea."

Crane blinked at her. "Lemme get this straight. Feng Fu sent in _platoons _of their students to steal a trophy from us."

"A big trophy."

"Right, sorry, a _big _trophy. And we can assume at the moment that they drugged half the school so they could do it easily."

"More like three-fourths, but I think you're on the right track."

"And if we don't get to the Headmaster's office before they do, we lose the trophy until next summer?"

"You deserve a medal, Jien."

Crane smacked his forehead. "That's the _dumbest _thing I've ever heard of! What if someone gets killed?"

"Against the rules," Mei Ling said simply. "Whichever school kills the opposing school's student is forever banned from owning the trophy." She rolled her eyes. "And Feng Fu loves the trophy too much to do that."

"What about Lee Da?"

"Eh." She shrugged. "We're not killers."

She skidded to a stop in front of the Headmaster's door. No one was around as it seemed. Crane grinned; "We beat them here!"

Mei Ling shushed him too late—an even bigger group of Feng Fu students (fifteen of them at least) came rushing down the nearest hallway, weapons at the ready. Both bird and feline stared at each other with wide eyes.

Mei Ling swallowed. "You stay inside the office and protect the trophy. I can hold them off out here."

Crane's heart surged as he grabbed her shoulders and met her eyes. "No way. I'm not leaving you alone, Mei Ling. We'll fight them together."

She seemed a bit tense under his touch, but smiled and nodded. She took up the ready stance while he clumsily clutched his broom. "Jien?"

"Hmm?"

"I don't care what anyone else says about you. I think you're pretty brave, and that makes up for strength any day."

His heartbeat peaked at her words, and he felt the adrenaline rush of a lifetime. His mop rose instinctively to deflect a boar's fist.

The fight for the Golden Sun Trophy was on.


	4. Chapter 4

Somewhere between getting kicked in the face and punched in the ribs, Crane came to the startling realization that he had _no idea _what he was doing and how he was doing it. The flowing movements to block and dodge his opponents just felt natural. Without even being aware of it, he'd left a small trail of dizzy Feng Fu students in his wake as they tried and failed to take him down.

After that small realization struck, a small bud of _something _rooted itself in his heart and refused to be shaken loose.

Crane had noticed that all his senses were sharper. He knew the amount of adrenaline pumping through his body was to thank for that. As a meaty rhino stepped forward, club raised and battle cry nearly splitting his eardrums, Crane centered his focus on flying above the rhino's head. All it took was a strong beat of his wings for him to soar; once he was over the Feng Fu student, he plucked the club out of his hands like it was nothing.

"What the –" the rhino started. But by then, Crane had already swung the club downward. After a satisfying _thump_, the rhino slid to the ground, out cold.

Crane did a celebratory swoop in the air, but his celebration was cut short when a solid force slammed into his side and sent him flying into the nearest wall.

"Fly around _that_, Feathers," taunted the student who had hit him, smirking at his own accomplishment.

Crane lifted his head to take a look at him, but his vision was swimming. His concentration was completely shot, making it impossible to make sense of his surroundings. Rhinos looked like apes, and apes looked like felines, and _ugh_, he felt like was about to throw up everywhere.

As he lay there, immobile, he was completely inundated with dread. What did he think he was doing here? This was a battle for Lee Da students, not clumsy janitors with big imaginations. He had no place here; no right to pretend that he good enough to fight alongside _the_ Mei Ling. Miserable, Crane didn't think he would ever stand up again; not when being knocked down was so much easier.

_Jien, I don't care what anyone says about you. You're brave, and that makes up for strength any day._

Though he was sure she wasn't saying it, Crane could clearly hear Mei Ling's voice as if she was right by his head. He still felt unbelievably weak, but, just like Mei Ling had said, he didn't need strength. He just needed to be brave.

Just as he was able to hold his head up again, Crane heard something that sent the world crashing down around him:

"I got her! Did you see that? I totally just put the _stomp _in _curb-stomp_!"

Cursing his luck, as well as the rhino that had taken to the obnoxious gloating, Crane rubbed his head. The injury from before had already given him a slightly headache—adding the blow to the wall only doubled the pain factor. Crane shuddered and carefully opened one eye.

Mei Ling lay next to him in a very small, very weak looking tangle of arms and legs.

The avian could only gape at her as time slowed. Mei Ling was scarily still. The only movement she made was a very subtle rise and fall of her chest and an occasional flutter of her eyelids.

This was the girl that had, however inadvertently, given him strength. This was the girl that had given him _hope_. And now she was barely awake, and despite all she had given him, Crane couldn't even have saved her. He didn't even get the chance to say thank you.

She gave a slight whimper and the sound shocked Crane out of his trance. He lunged forward and curled one wing around her protectively. He didn't care about their proximity, or even about the tell-tale blush that he couldn't seem to avoid. All he cared about was keeping her safe.

In a very un-Crane like voice, Jien fixed the Feng Fu students with a steady glare and yelled, "_STOP!" _

No one moved a muscle. The rhino from before that had been so proud of himself was still parading about, but his loud song—"I am a _beast~!_"—was cut off after he was quickly smacked upside the head.

Everyone's eyes were trained and the injured feline. Crane gently tapped the side of her face. He hadn't realized he was holding his breath until it escaped him in a loud sigh of relief as Mei Ling's soft gray eyes fluttered open. For one awful moment, he was terrified that he was going to burst into sobs, but Mei Ling coughed quietly and grabbed onto his shoulder. Slowly, they rose together, Mei Ling's movements stiff as she swayed on unsteady legs.

Crane watched in awe as she balanced herself and, after giving his shoulder a feeble squeeze, let her paws curl into tight fists.

"Mei Ling –" He reached out for her, stopping only when she held up a steady paw to still him.

"Don't worry, Jien. I'm okay," she said with scary calm, using the back of her paw to whip away a stray streak of blood by her lip. "That was impressive, I admit." She flashed a fanged smile that sent chills down the spines of the silent Feng Fu students. "But," Mei Ling continued…

Crane didn't even see her take a step.

The next thing he knew, the feline was standing on the slumped shoulders of a boar she'd knocked out with _one_ kick. Her toothy smile and gotten more intimidating, and Crane was starting to feel scared _for_ the other school.

Mei Ling finished her threat: "It was also _very stupid._"

She placed one paw on her hip. The other reached out and waved tauntingly. "Who's next?"

The fight was a _massacre. _Fueled by anger, Mei Ling wiped the floor with the other students and Crane took care of the leftovers. He wasn't nearly as grandiose as he had been before, though he tended to improvise more than anything else. His wings were his greatest asset—all it took was a couple strong pumps and he could evade any attack, often luring his opponents into fighting each other instead.

At some point, Mei Ling and swiped up his mop and became unstoppable. The wooden handle was almost deadly in her hands. It fell to the floor with a clatter as the last of the Feng Fu students fell to the ground, spit flowing down their chins and emitting miserable groans.

Both bird and cat panted heavily as they looked at each other. The moments dragged on as neither one of them moved.

Surprisingly, Mei Ling initiated the hug.

"Jien," she said breathlessly, "Jien that was _awesome! _You—you were—I can't believe—we won! We get to keep the Golden Suns Trophy!" Mei Ling held him at arms length. They were both fairly hard on the eyes by this point, though Crane thought Mei Ling was beautiful despite covered in bruises and cuts. He could only wish the same of himself. Happiness shone in Mei Ling's eyes as she nodded vigorously and said again, "We won!"

"Yeah—yeah we _won_," Crane repeated the exclamation in a quiet whisper, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he was hugged by the girl of his dreams. The smile only widened as he hugged her back.

**xxxxxX**

By evening, a warm feeling had spread to every inch of Crane's body. Even though he still ached in some places, he just wanted to feel like this forever.

For the first time in his life, Crane was being treated as an equal. Nobody had called him janitor-boy in hours, or thrown a mop at him, or complained about a mess he was supposed to clean up. When the students all over Lee Da finally stirred awake, after they caught wind of the epic showdown the trophy, most of them hailed Crane and Mei Ling as heroes. They got to keep the trophy for another year and, best of all, nobody was yelling at Crane to go polish it! As he lay alone in his small cot at the school infirmary, a very large smile started to grow on his face.

Crane had proved himself that day. From the moment he woke up, he'd stopped being Crane the coward and became Crane the confident. He held his chin up a little higher now; his chest swelled a little bit more then usual. And that smile—warm and bright and virtually permanent on his face—had been something of a badge of honor. He wore it proudly.

Hearing a small knock on the small wooden door, Crane put his thoughts on hold. "Come in," he said, sounding very pleased.

The door opened quickly and in slipped Mei Ling. She wore a bandage on her head that matched Crane's, and he could tell many more were wrapped on various places on her body by the stiff gait Mei Ling had acquired. The crutch tucked underneath her arm only made her slower and even more off-balance, but she held onto it tightly and hopped across the floor to sit by his bed.

Crane noticed that, despite her many injuries, a bright smile was one Mei Ling's face and a touch of mischief glowed in her eyes. "How're you feeling?" she asked mundanely, keeping her voice low. Crane got the feeling that she wasn't supposed to be visiting him, which only made him all the more grateful, and twice as embarrassed.

"Pretty good," he answered truthfully. "The medicine Nurse Wan had me take a few hours ago really helped." He shifted in his sheets; there was still that _thing _about Mei Ling that made him so nervous. "H-how are you feeling?"

Mei Ling shrugged, winced, and laughed at herself. "I'm not used to being hurt," she admitted, "and this crutch is makes me feel lopsided. But I'll manage."

Feeling a tug at his heart, Crane asked, "How long will it be before you can start lessons again?"

The question had obviously been on Mei Ling's mind for some time. Her smile became sadder. "Two weeks or so. I just have to wait for my ankle to heal."

"It-it's not broken is it?" he couldn't help but be a little panicked. He would be bogged down by guilt for the entirety of her recovery period if she'd broken it.

"No!" Mei Ling quickly raised her paws, calming his instinctive panic. "Not even close, Jien. It's just a bad sprain. It probably happened when I slammed into you and we crashed into the wall." She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that, by the way."

"It's not your fault." Crane studied her closely, and realized with a start that she was blushing. Faintly pink, across her muzzle, and seeing it made him feel a little nervous. "I mean…it, er, was those Feng Fu guys. They really hated you."

"They aren't used to seeing girls that can fight. Girls aren't even allowed to apply to their school."

Crane waited a moment before saying, "Their loss."

Mei Ling grinned. "You can say that again. You'll never guess what Headmaster Chonghuan told me."

"What?"

"We're getting medals for oh so valiantly protecting our school's most prized possession." She practically laughed outright. "Can you believe him? After all we've been through, all he can think of is that stupid trophy."

Crane pulled a face of obvious distaste. "I never want to think about the trophy ever again," he said honestly. "Or Feng Fu Academy. That whole ordeal _sucked_."

"That's the understatement of the century, Jien, but I'm with you. If I ever see that stupid trophy I'm going to wreck it and feel no regrets." She scrunched up her nose, making him laugh, and she laughed along with him before continuing. "Nurse Wan and the Headmaster have been interrogating me since they woke up from the spiked tea. I was so fed up I had to leave my cot."

Crane lifted his eyebrows at her. "I'm guessing you weren't supposed to?"

Her answer was a deeper blush that crept up to her nose.

"I never thought of you as the rule-breaking type," Crane teased. Mei Ling threw a feeble punch at his shoulder as she laughed. Crane wanted to stay like this forever; having an actual conversation with Mei Ling where he could make her blush easily and she laughed at his jokes. The scene was so peaceful—and after the last twenty-four hours, Crane wanted as much peace as he could get.

"I'm not here to tell you about my dangerous escapades though," the feline said. Her smile returned as well as the mischievous glint. "I have some much more important news."

Crane looked at her expectantly, not sure what she would say.

Mei Ling leaned forward until their faces were inches apart. When she spoke, Crane felt her breath on his cheeks. "I…_overheard _the Headmaster talking to Sifu Hahn. They were talking about you…and…" she paused, positively giddy with excitement. "Jien, they're letting you into the Academy."

"Oh," Crane's shoulders slumped. "Well, that's great. I thought I was going to lose my job after all this—"

He was cut off by Mei Ling's breathy laugh. "No, I mean as a student! They're going to let you study here!"

Crane's eyes widened. He stared at her dumbly for several seconds.

"Oh," he said. "_Oh!_"

"Yeah, _oh,_" Mei Ling snickered as she stood. "Congrats, Jien! I'm really proud of you." She stopped forward and planted a delicate kiss on his temple. While he tried to remember what his name was, Mei Ling continued, "…when I said all those things about you being brave, I meant it. You're one of the bravest people I know, Jien. And now everyone else knows it too."

Crane smiled stupidly at her. His heart had skipped a beat when she'd kissed him, and now it was racing. The small, warm feeling in his gut bloomed while he beamed at her and he felt something he'd never felt before: confidence_._

"Thank you, Mei Ling," he said without the slightest shake in his voice. "None of this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't sent Yang-Yang to come find me this morning—you believed in me this whole time…even when I didn't believe in myself."

"What can I say?" His friend shrugged. "I like making dreams come true. Especially if they belong to someone I care about."

Crane gave her the biggest, widest, dumbest smile he could manage. She cared about him! Mei Ling cared about _him_!

She smiled shyly and Crane thought the blush scrawled across her nose was the cutest thing he'd ever seen. Mei Ling shifted her crutch and hobbled to the door, mumbling about returning to bed before the Headmaster caught wind of her escape.

"Thanks again," Crane said as she snuck out. He snickered at himself, at the ridiculous amount of happiness in his voice. "For everything."

Her eyes twinkled and she winked at him. "Any time, Jien." She waved at him, and limped out the door.

As he lay in the dark, Crane thought of everything he'd been through that day. From waking up to Yang-Yang's wide eyes, to fighting for a stupid trophy he didn't care about, to thinking Mei Ling was horribly hurt…and the 'thank you gift' he'd received only moments ago. He wondered what tomorrow would be like; if he would still have to go through the obstacle course or the Headmaster would simply wave him on with a broad smile and maybe even a clap to the back. He wondered if Mei Ling was serious when she said she liked confident guys. He wondered if…if he had an actual friend now. Mostly, he wondered if they whole experience was a dream—one of his lucid visions. The whole thing seemed too good to be true.

Never had Crane thought of anything to be _too _good. He'd been simply content for a very long time. And now? Now he was happy—happier then he'd even been in his life.

Crane fell asleep with a soft smile curved on his beak.

**Xxxxxx**

Crane's knees shook as he stepped forward. The white bandage still clung loosely to his cranium, but the pain from the injury was less than a dull throb now. It was the last thing on his mind as he clutched his mop tightly.

"Crane, hurry up!"

He gulped. "Yes, Headmaster!" he nodded, and forced his legs to stop shaking and work as he wanted them to. After a few more staggering steps, he stood before the broad-shouldered ox and gave him a weak smile.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Quit stalling, Huang!"

Crane blinked. He was tempted to ask the Headmaster just _what _he meant by 'stalling' and if this 'stalling' business meant he _didn't _have to go into the very bird-unfriendly obstacle course. After considering this, Crane thought better of it. Slowly, he turned to look at the bright red line painting on the floor. He shook all over and walked towards it.

From behind him, Crane heard the Headmaster mutter, "I'm going to regret letting this skinny-legged janitor into my school, I just know it…"

Something snapped inside Crane. He steeled himself and said over his shoulder, "No, sir, you _won't _regret it."

"Prove it, Huang," Headmaster Chonghuan growled. He crossed his arms over his burly chest. Suddenly, he and the other onlookers seemed like an indomitable voice."Show me what you've got!"

Crane straightened his back and squared his shoulders. He tightened the grip on his broom. Today was his day, and he wasn't about to let a few butterflies in his stomach stop him.

"Yes, sir!"

Despite his new-found focus, Crane couldn't stop him himself from glancing at his single supporter before he attempted the spiked machines that had already bested so many others before him, and she made a shooing motion at him.

"_Go_," Mei Ling mouthed, "_Now._"

_She's telling you to go, Jien_, Crane thought. _So go. Do it. What are you waiting for? Be brave._

Crane took a deep breath and, with a self-assured smile, stepped over the red line. This was the first and hardest step of walking the path of a brave man. The others would be easy by comparison. And he knew he would have someone to be with him throughout the whole journey.

Crane couldn't stop his smile as he heard Mei Ling's loud cheers explode from the sidelines.

* * *

><p><strong>THE END<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>I can't believe I waited so long to finish this. I admit, writing the end was a little hard; after all, I'm just now wrapping it up after <em>3 years.<em> (I can't believe it's been so long!) Nonetheless, I had so much fun writing this story; I just hope you had as much fun reading it!**

**Thanks so much for sticking around! I had a blast!**


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